LMU @ Pepperdine U-G-L-Y!

I am a selfish selfish man. For weeks I complained and worried about the state of the USD program. The fact is, it could have been so much worse.

My sister attends Loyola Marymount University and, being the good big brother and basketball junkie that I am, I decided to accompany her and a group of her friends to the RIVALRY that is LMU and Pepperdine. Probably a big mistake, but hey, this is D1 basketball!

The drive was tedious: an hour and a half from Dana Point accompanied by crazy L.A. tailgaters and 2 laned windy PCH. The fun attribute was the wind. More fiece than a UConn fan after the NCAA tournament, the 70 mph winds nearly blew me off of Pepperdine's beautiful hillside campus and straight into the abyss of darkness that is.........the Pacific ocean. It was a battle to get into the gym, but that was not what I was here for.

The battle was on the court!

LMU and Pepperdine clashed at a breakneck pace. Turnovers, airballs, 4 fouls by a player 1 minute after halftime, this game had it all and a bag of chips. The coaches were even in to the christmas spirit! I mean come on, what's a game without a coach yelling, "JESUS CHRIST SETTLE DOWN" into the rafters so the youngins could hear. I mean it is a religious institution. Jesus should be present at all basketball games, even if only in words!

The band played a number of great jigs, and by a number, I mean they played the same jig 80 times. An oldie but a goodie, the "lets go waves song" pulsed through the gymnasium. All you could hear was the drums, but hey that's all that matters right?

Or maybe I was there for the social life. You have to love the same group of kids getting up and leaving every 2 minutes. I mean I can't blame them. I was holding my bowels in as well. I'd have to vommit every 2 minutes if I had to watch that game...twice like they do.

But in all seriousness. What an excellent contest,

We really missed out on getting Lorne Jackson. Live and learn. I just wish I hadn't driven an hour and a half to figure that out. The most entertaining part had to be the little kids playing ball at halftime. Damn those kids can ball.

TG err scout err chris manresa out.